Tennis-net.



PATENTED JUNE 25, 1907.

J. o. GEAPIN.

rrENNIs NET.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 20, i907.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIOE.

TENNIS-NET.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 25, 1907.

Application filed April 20, 1907. Serial No. 369,197;

tennis nets and consists in a tennis net so constructed as to permit tennis balls to be returned from one court to the other beneath it, the net being arranged to yield` at its lower part for this purpose. In United States Letters Patent #843,326, granted to 'me on February 5, 1907, I disclosed a net of this character, the lower ortion of which was made in the form of a fringe. The threads of this fringe yield readily to permit the passage of balls therethrough, but the general appearance of such fringe is, of course, somewhat different from the general appearance of the remainder of the net.

In my present invention I so construct the net that it shall diHer in appearance hardly at all from the net ordinarily in use at the present day, so that there will be nothing to attract the eye or distract the player. To this end I form the lower part of the net of the same material as the upper part, that is to say, woven in the same way, but I construct the lower portion so as to include a freely sus ended panel which will yield when a ball is riven against it. Preferably I divide the lower portion into a plurality of laterally se arated panels, such panels being free to yiel to allow the ball to pass beneath or between them. Such a net will thus yield to permit the balls to be returned beneath it just as will a net whose lower portion is formed of a fringe having loose pendent threads, but the former net will differ hardly at all in general appearance from nets usually employed at the present day, while the latter form of netnecessarily looks quite different.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 illustrates a net embodying my present invention, showing the same employed upon constructed in the usual or any desired manner, and preferably comprising awoven knotted mesh of the proper form and size. The lower part of the net is divided into separate panels, B, B, B. These panel portions are preferablyformed as an integral part of the netas a whole, though they may, of course, be made separate and fastened in place, if preferred. Openings are formed between adjacent panelsso that each panel 'will swing freely to permit the ball to pass beneath it by lifting it up, or the ball may pass through the space 'C between adjacent anels B, should the same form a path o `ering less resistance. A net of this character is used in the same way an ordinary tennis net is used, the upper part properly opposing passage of balls, the top of the net being kept at the right height so that balls moving through the air at a certain height only will be allowed to pass from one court to the other during the progress of the game. When it is desired, however, to return a ball from one court to the other in between. plays, the balls may be readily so returned by being driven along the ground in the direction from one. court to the other, the net readily yielding at the bottom to permit the balls to so pass. I have shown the panels in the drawings as slightly over-lapping each other. Preferably they will be constructed this way because in hanging loosely they tend to contract laterally. I have found in actual experience that if they are not allowed to normally slightly over-lap, they will so contract as to leave open spaces between them of considerable width, which is undesirable. Where there is a considerable open space in a net a ball may be returned from one court to another without disclosing to the eye whether it passed over or under the net. Where the ball has to move a portion of the net to pass from one court to the other the movement of the net acts as a telltale to indicate the fact. It will be understood that a panel, so long as it is freely suspended, may be of any width desired, the width thereof being a mere matter of selection. The number of panels employed will, of course, depend upon the width thereof.

- What I claim is:

1. A tennis net, whose lower portion includes a panel freely suspended from the body portion of the net..

2. A tennis net, whose lower portion com- ICS prises a plurality of panels Jfreely suspended formed of a plurality of laterally disconnectfrom the body portion of the net and laterally ed panels, said adjacent panels normally over- I o disconnected from each other. lapping each other` 3. Atennis net composed of asubstantially 5 uniform knotted or woven mesh throughout7 JAMES C' CHAPIN' the lower portion thereof divided into a plu- Witnesses: rality oflaterally disconnected panels. D. HOWARD HAYWooD,

4. A tennis net having its lower portion LYMAN S. ANDREWS, Jr. 

